Never escape the past
by jester33
Summary: Rao had done many things since he escaped Helgen, some of the things he regrets and others he just wishes to put in the past. Once he saves the Vampire Serana , from the crypt, he past comes catching up leading them on many interesting adventure *I am only using the beginning of the dawnguard DLC for the beginning, after that most of it will be its own story*
1. Chapter 1

The thought of always being hunted by vampires, not being able to stay in one place long for the fear he might lose the ones he loved, or getting other innocent people killed for something he did. It had not always been like this, there was still danger and death, but not as bad. Rao was Dovahkiin, the Harbinger for the Companions, the listener for the Dark Brotherhood, a nightingale and a student at the College of Winterhold, death followed him and he regrets some of the things hes done, the Dark Brotherhood , the things he has done scar him for life, but one day...changed his life forever.

Rao yanked as he pulled his deadric great-sword from the dragons skull. "Tough son of a bitch" he mumbled to himself, Rao was a fair man, around his mid-twenties, his father was a nord, his mother a redguard, he had tanned skin from his fathers side, but it was a tad darker from her mothers side. His hair was black and medium in length. Many women though he was good-looking and handsome, and the fact that he was dragonborn and known through out the many guilds he was in also made him a well known man. He doesn't like to be treated like royalty when he enters a city, he grew up a dark and hard life as a child and knows there are still people who suffer. He tries to forget those things, by using his good sense of humor. He cleaned the blood of his his great-sword, and placed it on his back, he headed to Riften on his trusty horse shadowmere, he could use a decent bed and some mead. It was about a 2 hour ride and arrived there about about dusk. Riften wasn't his favorite city, he mainly just came here for the thieves guild when they needed him. He pushed open the door to the bee and barb and sat down at a table. Talen-Jei came over next to his table, "you got a lot of nerve showing your face around here after what you did." "Please, I just want some mead and a bed." He seemed a little surprised, but it quickly disappeared of his face as he went to get the mead. A well-built orc came over to him, "Looking for some extra work?" "What kind of work" Rao asked uneasy, he's had bad experiences with random people asking him if he needed work. "Killing Vampires" he replied quickly. Rao thought about it amount and the decided "Sure, where do I start" "Israns gonna like you" he said with a smirk "Fort Dawnguard in Dayspring canyon, here's a map, hope to see you there...and my names Durak." Durak turned and went out the door. He looked at the map for a few minutes, got up and left before he even got his mead.

It was maybe about an hours ride from riften, it was around midnight now when he finally got to the stair of Fort Dawnguard. "Damn, you could fit a whole army in here," he said as entered the fort. He saw Durak and give a quick nod before continuing farther in. He stopped when he saw what must have been Isran fighting with what looked like a Vigilant of Stendarr. He waited till they finished to approach them, Isran noticed him and eyed him head-to-toe, "you must be the one Durak told me about" "I'm am, so where do I begin" "Quick tot he point I see, I like that. Go to dimhallow crypt, theres been a lot of vampire activity as told by Vigilant Tolan here." He nodded to his left where Tolan was standing. "Im coming too,"he said "I've lost too many comrades to let them get away, I'll meet you there tomorrow," He walked off out the door. "I'm going to rest up first, been a long day" Rao said as he felt himself yawn. "Good idea, you'll need all your strength tomorrow, the beds are the left." Rao nodded and went to the beds. He plopped down on the soft furs, its been a while since hes had a nice, cozy place to sleep, he took off his dragon bone armor along with his dragon priest mask(Volsung) and sat there wondering about what would happen tomorrow. He soon drifted off to a deep sleep.

-20 years earlier-

It'd been forever since he got one bite of food or a tiny sip of water, he had been forced to come to the mine last year when he was 5 because slavers and bandits killed his family and burned his house and had forced him to work the mines. "Can I please have some water and food, I haven't eaten forever" he asked a slaver as he passed, the slaver just stopped and looked at him and nailed him across the face, "Shut brat" he said then spat at him. The side of his face was bleeding from the punch and he had to get up or he'd get whipped, he grabbed his pickaxe and started to mine. The next 7 years he spent in that hell hole had been the worst years of his life. He had gotten so many scars and burns that you can see them on his skin. He jolted when he woke up remembering his life as slave. He pushed that thought aside and got back into his armor and headed for dimhallow crypt. Before he left Isran gave him a Cross-Bow "Take those vampires out in a few hits" is what Isran said. But Rao was fine with his Deadric bow and great-sword. It was about a days trip to the crypt, killing a few bandits on the way there that got in his way. When he entered the crypt he saw Tolan's body dead as some vampires talked about their "fresh kill". Rao pulled out his bow and quickly and quietly dispatched of them, one of his arrows going right threw their eye. He neglected to see the death hound until he attacked him biting his arm, he felt a chill go through his arm, it felt like his veins were freezing in his arm. He quickly tore the hound off his arm, ground the hound of round its throat and slit it using his ebony dagger. The hound yelped and he felt the warm flow of blood going over his hand. He wiped it off and looked at his arm, the dog bit into a muscle, he could see the blood trickling out of it. He wrapped it in a leather strap and continued to Talons dead body. "Such a fool, you should have waited for me to come." He continued on until he got to a open room with circular platform in the middle. There were only a vampire and his thralls, he quickly dispatched of them as he severed the head of a thrall coming towards him. There was a pedestal in the middle with a button. He placed his hand on the button and a spike pierced his hand. "Gah, son of bitch!" He screamed. He's had worse but it still hurt like hell, he bandaged it and noticed the braizers started glowing. "Dammit, a puzzle, whenever I complete a puzzle a draugr usually ends up attacking me." He moved the braizers into position, the circle platforms sunk into the ground, there was a strange monolith in the center, when he got near it opened up and a woman fell out of it.


	2. Chapter 2

Instinctively he caught her as she fell and helped her get back on her feet. "Wh...Where is... Who sent you here?" the women asked. She was about her mid to early twenties, like him, she was a little shorter than him and had pale, but slightly tanned skinned skin, she was absolutely beautiful, breath taking, he noticed her eyes were a glowing orange..a vampire...normally he'd kill one but...something about her...she seemed calm, hadn't attacked him, and was actually speaking to him, not trying to rip his throat out. "Who ere you expecting" he asked? "Someone liked me" she crossed her arms "A vampire?" "Yes" she replied "The dawnguard would want me to kill you." "Ohh, not fond of vampires are they...well look kill me and you've killed one vampire" she paused. "If people are after me then there's something bigger going on" "Ok.. what do you plan to do?" "My family used to live on an island west of Solitude, I guess they still do" She responded. "My name's Serana by the way. Good to meet you." "Mines Rao, nice to meet you too" "This way, I'm pretty sure this is way out" "Right behind you" she said. Two gargoyles came to life in a roar, he pulled out his deadric great-sword and shoved it through its neck, he kicked it off his sword and turned to look at Serana who was actually a pretty good fighter, she wielded ice spikes and one hand, life-drain in another if if they got to close she had an elven dagger. "Your good in a fight Serana, glad your on my side." She grinned "Thanks, not to bad yourself." She sheathed her dagger and looked at Rao's deadric great-sword, "Is that a deadric great-sword?!"she asked seeming curious "Huh, oh yeah, I made it myself" "Must have been expensive to get a deadra heart, unless you went to Oblivion or somewhere like that" she chuckled. "I didn't buy them...lets just say I get around a lot." He gave a smirk as he walked on "You can ask me more when were out of this damned place." She seemed a little surprised, but shook it off an caught up with him. They keep going until they got to an open room. "Stay sharp...something isn't right about this place." As soon as he finished saying that a few arrows whizzed by his head. He pulled out his bow and fired a few shots in the skeletons as they crumbled to dust. He continued down the stairs and saw the unmistakable horned helmet of a draugr deathlord, he took the first swing but the draugr parried his attack and pushed him back. The draugr took a swing and Rao side-stepped the swing, when he turned back to face the draugr, he saw that the draugr was preparing for a shout.."FUS..RO DAH." Rao flew backwards and slammed against a wall...his vision went in and out, he saw the deathlord preparing an attack, he inhaled and let loose a "YOL TOOR SHUL." The draugr stumbled backwards burning, he got back up to his feet and executed the draugr by slicing at its knees then swinging down at skull. He pulled his sword out of his skull to see Serana finishing off the few skeleton that remained. I guess she hadn't noticed his fight against the deathlord because she seemed surprised to see the draugr dead on the floor, burnt to a crisp, a decent sized crack in the wall and Rao on his knees trying to catch his breath. She ran down to see if he was ok. "Rao are you hurt?!" "No, I'm fine, just got the wind knocked out of me," he said gasping for breaths, she still seemed a little nervous, but helped him to his feet. "Took down a Draugr Deathlord...impressive, should I know who you are?" "I'm know by a few different things, but I'm mainly know as Dovahkiin...dragonborn." "I've only heard stories about dragonborns, that explains what all the shouting was." "Yeah" He saw something out of the corner of his eye, a word wall! He walked over to it and saw his vision go blurry, he felt the power of the word inside of him, his vision cleared back. "A word wall, looks like dragon language, you can read that right? Since your dragonborn." "Yeah I can , it says GAAN or stamina, I'd use it to drain someones stamina...come on, lets get outta here, I've had enough caves and crypts for day" "Same, lets go."


	3. Chapter 3

"Ahh, it feels so good to breath again!" She exclaimed as they finally got outside into the bitter cold. "Hah, I'd rather be in a cave right now where its warm" He joked, he took off his dragon priest mask as it was getting pretty sweaty wearing it. "So thats what you look like" She grinned

"So what kind of mask is that anyway, it seems familiar." Have you heard of the dragon priests? They were mortals who worshiped the dragons during the dragons rule of skyrim, because of his they were granted great powers, and those powers are stored in there mask, I slayed a few took their masks and liked this one the most." "Interesting" "Well, we can head to Dawnstar, go to an Inn, and rest there to tomorrow, it should be about a 3 hour ride." "Sounds good" she said. He whistled and shawdowmere came around the corner a minute later.

"That doesn't look like any horse I've seen." "Like I said...I get around." They got to Dawnstar a little before dusk and stopped at the Inn as planned, as they were heading to the Inn a guard past by "I am honored to see you Harbinger." Rao gave a nod in respect and continued on. "What was that about" questioned Serana "As I said, I'm know by many names, Harbinger of the companions is one of them." "Harbinger?" "Leader" "Ohh". Rao sat down at the counter and ordered some mead, Serana noticed he looked like he was holding something back, she wanted to figure out what, but knowing her own personal history decided until a better time came around. During the night he feel into another deep sleep...

-16 years ago-

The slavers had brought in a new leader...this one was much harsher than the last...whipping them everyday as he worked, "Come on you filthy dogs, work harder!" , one day the young Rao became to sore to work...the leader had noticed this and kept whipping him even harder, "Get up you worthless pile of crap!" Rao's response was just to spit in his face, the slaver whipped it off, grabbed him and dragged him to where the forge was, "Damn little brat, your never going to forget this!" He grabbed the branding iron and shoved it right into the back of his neck, shoving as hard as he could, Rao screamed in pain as it burnt into his flesh.

He jolted awake yelling, he just sat there for a little starting at nothing, sweat dripping off of him. Serana rushed in, panic and worry filling her face. She was slightly relieved to see he was ok but still worried about what happened that made him scream so bad. "Are you ok?!" "Yeah, I... I …. I just had nightmare...sorry if I worried you." He was still sitting up in bed, Serana could see most of his back, scars ranging from small to large, some worse than others...bruises that didn't seem to heal, and the branding on the back of his neck. "What happened to this man" she wondered as she examined him. She remembered she was talking to Rao, "Its ok, just glad to see your ok."

With that she left his room and, he lade back down and didn't fall asleep for another hour. In the morning Serana noticed Rao was already awake getting armored up for the trip. "Ready to go?" she asked, "Yeah, I'll meet you out there in a few minutes." She left to go downstairs and get wait for him outside." He was almost out the door when he heard a woman scream from outside. He dashed outside to see Serana was getting corned by thugs. "Hey assholes, leave her alone!" "Oooh I'm so scared" said one of the thugs, he was slightly taller than the rest, but also not as built. Rao went over to the thug, he nailed him in the face with a hard punch, kneed the thug in the gut and again kneed the thug in his face, hearing the satisfying crunch of a skull cracking. One of the other thugs tried to come up from behind, Rao ducked below the punch, grabbed his arm, flipped him over his back and stomped on face. The last thug stood there, shivering... "leave now, never return and I'll spare you.."

The thug ran off as Rao chuckled to himself. Serana stood in awe, "T-thanks." "No problem." They got onto shawdowmere and Serana told him were the boat they kept was. It was a short ride and off in the distance he could see a large castle, "Is that your home over there?" She looked over to where he was staring "Yeah that's it." "Damn never told me your house was a huge castle." "I didn't wanna seem like the royal girl who sits in a castle all-day." "I took you for the adventurous type anyway." He chuckled, she just had to grin at him."Hey…Before we go in there…"

"Are you alright?" He asked, noting some discomfort in her voice. "Yeah, I think so," Serana said. "And thanks for asking…" "I just wanted to say thank you for getting me this far. I think I'm going to go my own way for awhile. I think…," she trailed off. "Most of your friends would want to kill everything in there, but I'm hoping you can show more restraint than that.


	4. Chapter 4

Just let me do the talking, and try not to draw any attention to yourself." He nodded and followed her into the castle, a gate keeper tried to stop him until he saw Serana. "My Lord! Everyone! Serana has returned!" "I guess I'm expected," she said in sarcasm. The vampires in the main hall were astonished to see her. Rao had his attention drawn to what she carried on her back. Why didn't he notice it before? She was carrying an Elder Scroll…She walked down the stairs. Rao was disturbed at the bloodbath before him: vampires everywhere feeding on humans, and there were more of those damn Death Hounds. A man stood in the center of the hall, arms outstretched dramatically, "My long lost daughter returns at last," his voice as dramatic as his pose.

First impressions told a lot, and Rao didn't like the feeling he got. He seemed…wrong; and it wasn't just the way he spoke. It was the way he carried himself, used his authority, and a look of dominance in his eyes. "I trust you have my Elder Scroll?" _Damn_, Rao cursed inside. He sees his daughter for the first time in gods knew how long, and the first thing he's concerned about is the Elder Scroll? Serana didn't miss a beat either, "After all these years, that's the first thing you ask me?" she sighed, "Yes, I have the Scroll." "Of course I'm delighted to see my only daughter, must I express that aloud?" the man asked. If you really are a father worth anything you would've_…_he thought. "Now tell me, who is this stranger you've brought into our hall?"

Serana stepped forward, her voice somewhat confrontational, "This is my savior, the one who freed me. "The man spoke to him, sounding less rehearsed, "It seems I have you to thank for my daughter's safe return…Rao." "Surprised? Little that happens in Skyrim escapes my attention," the man said, sounding dramatic again. Then he went on, nonchalantly, "I am Harkon, lord of this court. By now my daughter will have told you what we are." "Vampires," "Not just vampires," Harkon replied. "We are among the oldest and most powerful vampires in Skyrim."

"What happens now?" Rao asked. "You have done me a great service, and now you must be rewarded. There is but one gift I can give that is equal in value to the Elder Scroll and my daughter. I offer you my blood. Take it, and you will walk as a lion among sheep. Men will tremble at your approach, and you will never fear death again…" Harkon offered. "But, I'm a werewolf...what then?" He asked, he turned to see Serana flinch when he said that, she must've not know he was one. "Yes, I smell the filth of it on you as you entered, one bite and you will no longer be a werewolf,but a vampire lord! Perhaps you still need convincing? Behold the power!" Harkon suddenly shook, blood seeping from his pores. With an explosion of blood, he assumed a new form. This form was demonic, grey-skinned with sharp claws and skeletal wings—Rao couldn't even figure out how Harkon stayed off the ground. The attire this form had was regal, considering the monstrous appearance. "This is the power that I offer! Now, make your choice!" Harkon bellowed, to "never fear death again"-the very way Harkon said that told him the reason behind this...thing's existence. Vampires were powerful, certainly. But to choose to become one was to admit cowardice; the way he saw it, life needed death to make it precious. He'd rather die having lived a full life than to live without knowing life. He gripped an old ring he kept on a chain around his neck.

He made a promise to live life on his terms, and he had every intention of holding to that promise. "I refuse your offer," he said. "So be it," Harkon said, clearly irritated. "You are prey like all mortals. I banish you!" The vampire lord conjured a spell in one hand, and hit Rao instantly. He could swear that he saw a great sense of loss in Serana's face just before the world around him vanished. He woke up on the shore, right beside the boat they had come in on. He got in the boat and traveled back to land. He was back at Fort Dawnguard in a couple of weeks. The vampires had clearly tried to attack, he saw a few vampire bodies laying on the ground in a puddle of blood.

Isran was standing at the gate, "Your back, I hope you have good news." "I have news...just not good news," he sighed. "Damn, well, what do you know." "The vampires were looking for a woman trapped inside a monolith..."he continued "She wanted to go home so I brought her home," "And what does this have to do with anything?"He sounded annoyed. "She had an elder scrolls and now the vampires have it..." "WHAT!Why didn't you get it from them!" "They're weren't like normal vampires, they were more powerful...I'm lucky I made it out alive," "I see, I know a few people we get to help us...the first one is Gunmar a big brutish Nord, hates vampires as much as I do...the other one is Sorine Jurard,Breton girl, whip-smart, and good with tinkering. Fascination with the Dwemer—weapons in particular...get them back here and we can start coming up with a plan." "Got it," he said and he set off to get Gunmar first.

It was a few days to get to where Gunmar should be, he had to ask around but he finally got someone to tell him where he was. He was crouching on the steps to the entrance of a cave. By the eight stay back! This bear has claimed many lives. I won't allow it to claim anymore!" The voice belonged to Gunmar. "Isran sent me. He wants your help" Rao didn't even bother introducing himself. "Well…" He cut Gunmar off. "The vampires are planning something huge and have an elder scroll" "Oh. Well I've been tracking this bear for weeks and I can't just let it kill people. Help me with it and then we can talk" Gunmar sounded fair. Rao nodded. The two crept to the cave mouth, Gunmar pointing to the bulking bear facing away and roaring. Rao pulled out his ebony sword given to him by Ulfric after they captured solitude.

He silently and quickly headed over to the bear, he went behind it and stabbed it throat, feeling the warm blood gush over hand. He took the sword out and sheathed it back, wiping off his hand. "Not bad, but uhh...there's a few more..." Gunmar's voice trailing off as he stared to where 3 more bears were. One of them charged at Gunmar, he shoved his dagger in to the bears stomach and flipped the bear over him, driving the dagger deeper. Gunmar twisted the dagger and pulled it out before being bite in the arm by one of the other bears. He didnt scream, he took the pain and fought the bear off with a bad arm...Rao saw now what Isran needed him for...he was one hell of a fighter. Rao caught the bear charging at him and yelled "IISS SLEN NUS," freezing the bear solid as he pushed it off the ice bridge. He turned to see Gunmar he killed the beast and was ready to go. "I'll meet you at Fort Dawnguard," "What about your arm, shouldn't you get that looked at?" "Nah, I'll be fine." And with that Gunmar was on his way. "Now time for Sorine," He headed out of the cavern , got on his horse and was on his way.


	5. Chapter 5

Rao found her at an old stone pillar, near the river. The woman he saw was in armor like the dark elf he had seen months before. Her light brown hair was cut short, framing her rounded face. Her high cheekbones almost framing her wide brown eyes. Her nose was rounded, somewhat flat. "Have you seen my pack? I swear some mudcrabs stole it!" the woman's voice was high pitched but educated. "No. I need your help" He said. "Who sent you?" "Isran. We have a vampire problem" His response annoyed Sorine. "No you must be mistaken. Last time Isran insisted that I was crazy when I proposed three ways vampires could overrun the world" Sorine held that Breton way of smartness that Rao despised. He gritted his teeth as Sorine continued on with her theories. "They have an elder scroll!" He finally interrupted with an annoyed if not distant tone.

"That… I would not have expected" He was satisfied with Sorine's shocked tone and face. Finally a Breton put in their place. "Look I can't just abandon my research. Find my pack and I'll go to that old Fort… Is Isran still there?" "Yes. I'll find it. But you should go ahead. There's no time" "Oh no. You're not tricking me that easily" Sorine's reply drove him insane. He walked away, hands in the air towards the river, his eyes soon falling on her pack. God she was such a clumsy woman. She had just forgotten where she left her pack. "Here's your damn pack!" He growled. She checked through her bag, gave him a somewhat annoyed glance and walked off. When he got back to the fort he saw Gunmar and Sorine already there. When they entered they stood in the large circular room of Fort Dawnguard, their eyes staring up at Isran. Rao felt uneasy as he stared at the gates holding them in this section, inward pointing spikes preventing their escape. "What is this Isran?" the three asked in unison. "Now" His voice grated.

A huge golden bowl above them twisted, projecting the golden sunlight into the entire room. So a trap he assumed, for vampires. The golden light bathed him and the newcomers in perfection as he raised his defiant eyes to stare directly into it, the blue of his own eyes almost combating the light. He saw the silhouette of Isran nod. Just like that the light ended leaving Rao blind for a few moments. "I had to make sure you weren't infected. Gunmer you can armor up some trolls and Sorine you can start working on our crossbows" Isran was glaring at Rao "And you can tell me why a good for nothing vampire has come here asking for you." Anger his voice as he spoke. 'A vampire? Serana?' he thought to himself as he headed up the stairs to where Isran was. Rao continued by following Isran, through an armory of sorts to a small torture chamber. The walls were sticky, darkening from blood as were several chains and knives. A hot poker in white hot coals rested next to a rack.

Burning blood filled his nose, when he turned the corner he saw Serana standing there, arms crossed. "I'm guessing you didn't expect to see me again" she said. "I had a feeling I would, but why are you here? You took a big risk." "Yes I did. These Dawnguards aren't very welcoming. I got a warmer welcome from my father… And that's saying something" Serana's words made him flinch. Isran spoke up. "Why should we welcome it?" "I'm standing right here" Serana was unimpressed. Isran was cold. "Control its tongue or I'll cut it off" "My father… He's obsessed with power, I can't stand it anymore. I want to help you, to stop him. I understand how hard it is to endure me but I feel I can trust you. I hope I'm not mistaken" Serana seemed so confused. Rao sighed, his own eyes becoming softer. "No you're right to trust me. I promise. What is your father planning Serana?" Raos voice was soft as Serana offered him the elder scroll. "I'm not sure how but my father found a prophecy to forever block out the sun, forever, and he's seeking to fulfill it. I'm sure the scroll holds the answer" "Now we need to convince Isran you're on our side" He grunted. Serana smiled. "I'm nothing if not persuasive" "Ok. You've got the knowledge now tell me why we shouldn't kill it" Isran was chilly. Rao turned quickly to Isran and whispered, hand on his shoulder. "Because we are going to need her help. I believe her. If you can't trust her, trust me… sir"

He was quick to the point. Isran sighed and turned his eyes to Serana. "Ok you can stay but you are not a guest you are a resource, an asset. If you lay one finger on anyone here your friend is going to pay for it. Don't make me regret my sudden outburst of tolerance" Isran was husky. Serana didn't even blink as she smiled sweetly. "Thank you for your kindness. I'll remember it next time I'm hungry" Serana may have appeared sweet but her voice was cold. Rao coughed nervously. "What now?" "Like I said I'm sure the scroll holds the answers we need but no one can read it, except, a Moth Priest. And there are none in Skyrim" Serana lowered her eyes as Isran spoke up. "If I may interrupt it, I've heard of some priest touring Skyrim. Maybe this priest is the moth priest you need" Isran spoke his eyes on Rao. "That's… Actually brilliant. But how are we going to find one man in the whole of Skyrim? Skyrim is massive! It's like looking for a dagger in the ocean" Serana's eyes widened. "Don't worry, I know a man who can help us." "Where and who is he,?" Serana asked. "His name is Urag gro-shub, and he...is at the college of winterhold." "The college of winterhold? I didn't take you for the mage type." "I'm not, it just helps to know people," He grinned as they walked out of the fort. "I have to make a couple of stops, one at Riften and the other at Windhelm...is that okay?" "Sure, but can you at least tell me what we're going to do there. Riften is a place to get food and supplies," He hesitated "...and...some personal business." Serana eyed him strangely. "And Windhelm is to get some better weapons and armor stuff like that from my house." They arrived in Riften a few hours before dusk, when they entered the Bee and Barb to get rooms, Talen-Jei eyed him, "Guess our mead isn't good enough for you," Talen growled.


	6. Chapter 6

"At first I thought you had nerves for coming in here again, now I see your just stupid," Rao felt his beast blood boiling inside of him, his eyes turning yellow. "Rao..calm down," worry in her voice. He turned to look her and saw those soft eyes looking into him. He looked back at Talen and calmed down..."Two rooms," he muttered tossing him 20 gold as he and Serana headed up to their rooms. He sat down on his bed, removed his mask and just their for a for minutes, staring at the ground. Serana was standing in the doorway, knowing that something bothered him and wondering what went on downstairs. "Rao.." she whispered softly. He looked up, staring into her eyes. "Can I ask you some questions?" Her voice soft and sweet as she spoke. "Huh, sure," "Can they be personal?" She didn't want to push him to far to where he'd never talk to her again. He looked uneasy, but reluctantly said yes. "What happened between you and that...lizard thing?" "I'd prefer not to get to in-depth, but long story short, he owed people money, so I had to get it," "Like steal it?!" "No, not steal...I had to...persuade..him to give me the money," She wasn't convinced that was the whole story, but decided not to push it, instead, she just walked over to him and by him on the bed. "And...how did you get that burning on your neck?" She could tell it brought him back bad memories. "Bandits like to keep track of their slaves..." "You were a slave?I...I'm..I'm sorry..." "She looked at the ground until she felt his hand on her shoulder. "Its...okay," As he put his hand on her back. He quickly removed his hand because she seemed scared and uneasy about it.

"Are you okay?!" Worry filled his voice. "I think...I'm sorry, but the process to becoming a pure-blooded vampire...was very...degrading, I'd rater not talk about it." They sat their in silence, until he got up. "I have to go do some...personal business, you going to be okay while I'm gone?" Yeah, I'll be fine," she gave a soft laugh, he grinned as he walked out the door. She knew something was going on with him and decided to follow him, she liked being sneaky, it was always fun to her. Rao continued through the shops and forge and into the cemetery. 'Mourning somebody close that he lost?' she though to herself. She continued to follow him until he got to a grave, that was inside a stone shack. She went closer as he pressed a button in the center. The grave went backwards revealing a a hidden pathway underground with a trap-door. "What the hell is he doing?"She whispered to herself. She followed him into the pathway and through the trap-door. It lead to a big-open room under the city. There were people all around the place, they were all wearing light leather armor. This had to have been some kind of guild, she saw Rao talking to some of the other people, he pulled out what looked like a gold vase with jewels encrusted in it, and handed it to one of the other guys to examine and he got a few hundred gold in return. One of the guild members saw her because he shouted, "Hey! Who the hell are you!"

Rao looked over to see Serana, backed up against the wall "Dammit," he muttered to himself as he ran over and stood in-front of her to protect her. "Its okay, shes with me,". They stopped, and stared at him, but continued on with their business. He lead her outside and followed her to the Inn, not speaking a word. When they got to his room she slammed the door behind them. "What the hell was that! Who were those people!" "That...that was the thieves guild," He sighed. "So you steal from other people! Why didn't you tell me!" He face red with anger. "NO! I don't steal anymore...I stopped," "I saw you give someone a gold vase with jewels in it!" "I didn't steal it, I found it and knew I'd get the most money from him," He just stared blankly into the ground, "I didn't tell you because...I didn't want you to worry about me, I knew you already had a lot on your mind with your father, I didn't want to make it even more stressful...I'm sorry Serana." She walked over and sat by him. "Its okay..its just...your the only person I can trust..." she sat there silent, looking like she might cry, but she didn't. He hesitantly put his arm around her shoulder. She flinched a little but didn't mind, she rested her head on his shoulder as she weep. Soon, she was asleep, but he wasn't, he slowly and carefully pick her up and brought her to her room. He just placed her over the bed and put some blankets over her and went to his own room to sleep.

She woke up the next morning warm and in her own room, she guess Rao had brought her in here, she smiled at the thought. She went downstairs to see him eating sweet-rolls and talking to kids about the time he got into a drinking contest with the deadric lord Sanguine and end up going on a long quest to fix his staff. She had to smile at his story, it seemed rather hard that a deadric lord would interact with mortals. She sat down across from him as he finished his story. "So, you got into a drinking contest with a deadric lord?" She chuckled. "I've actually talked to/done a quest for every deadric lord except...Peryite and Mehrunes Dagon," "What! No way," Yep, I'll show you while were at my house," He grinned. "So how did you become a vampire anyway?" She seemed nervous about the question, "Well how you think vampirsm started?" "By a deadric lord I guess," "Exactly! It was started by molag bal...the ceremony was rather… degrading" her voice was calm yet he felt the anger in her, "I'd rather not talk about it," "I'm sorry," he changed the subject quickly "We should head out soon if we want to get a good start on our trip to Windhelm," "I agree," They went up stairs to get their supplies and armor. "Hey...I'm sorry about last night,"she whispered softly, he turned to face, "Its okay," he whispered back. With that they left the Inn and headed to Windhelm. During their ride their, Serana would ask about how Skyrim changed since she'd be alive and he answer that, until a dragon flew right over them. "What in the nines was that," she screamed, "Dragon," he growled.


	7. Chapter 7

**So, would you guys prefer to see more frequent chapters, about as long as the ones i'm posting now, or longer chapters, but less frequent**

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He jumped off the horse and tapped it, telling it to go back a few steps. The dragon landed in front of him shaking the earth as he did and let out a deafening roar. He stopped backwards but recovered quickly, pulling his deadric long-sword out he slashed it across the face and did it again before the dragon snapped at him. He stepped back to barely avoid it. It took a deep breath as it exhaled a breath of ice chilling him to the bone. Rao replied with "YOL TOOR SHUL" burning the dragons skin. He sheathed his great-sword and pulled out his dagger.

He jumped on the back of its neck and ran up to its head before shoving the dagger deep into the dragons head and wouldn't take it out until the dragon came down crashing. The skin burned off as Rao absorbed the soul into his body. He headed back to the horse to see Serana was in shock from most likely never seeing a dragon before. "So dragons are real.." she whispered, barely loud enough for Rao to hear. "Yep," and with that they continued on their journey to Windhelm. They only had a few skirmishes with bandits or wildlife, quickly dispatched by them. "They used to call this place the City of Kings when I was around," she said when they were in view of the city. "Interesting, this happens to be where Ulfric Stormcloak is," "Who's he," "He's the leader of the Stormcloak rebellion, and considered the High King by many, including me," "I see."

They went to the stables and tied shadowmere up for the night. They continued across the cold stone bridge and into the city. They continued on till they reached his house. "Feels good be home...well in one of them at least," Serana glanced at him but decided to wait till tomorrow when she wasn't so tired. "An honor to you my thane," "Thank you Calder." They headed up stairs after the quick conversation with Calder. They pasted through the armory and display cases to the master bedroom. "You can the bed, I'll use a bedroll on the floor," "No, I couldn't, you ca-" "I'm not the one whose slept in a stone monolith for thousands of years...I'll take the floor, you take the bed," He left the room so she get dressed out. She heard talking from downstairs and decided to listen in. "My Thane, are you sure about having a vampire here?" "I trust her, besides she hasn't tried to rip my throat out and drink my blood like the other vampires," "My thane-" "Calder, enough, I trust her," "As you wish my thane."

Rao headed back upstairs to get ready to sleep for the night. "So your follower..servant...person, doesn't like vampires?" "No, not really, almost got killed by one before he became my housecarl," "So what is a housecarl?" "It means that I've been recognized of importance and he has been assigned to protect me," "Ohhh, ok, well we should probably get some sleep, we have should wake up early tomorrow to get ahead start." They laid down and Serana was out quick, but Rao was still awake, thinking that something is going to happen tomorrow, something big. He decided it was nothing and went to sleep.

Rao woke up a little before Serana did, he went to his chest and started to look through it, seeing if there was anything he might need. "Don't need that...nope...hmmm, dont think I'll need that... hmmm maybe this?" He pulled out Sanguine's Rose, he inspected it for awhile, deciding if he'd need it or not. "Huh, whats that?" Serana ask tiredly as she started to wake up. "This is Sanguine's Rose... this is what I got from the drinking contest against the Deadric Prince Sanguine...good times." "Sooo, what does it do? Shot rose pedals?" she chuckled softly. Rao grinned "It does this and shot it right near where Serana. A black-purple portal appeared and when it was gone, a 7-foot Deadra stood there, not saying anything. Serana screamed, as in turn bringing Calder rushing into the room. "By the nines, how the hell did that get in here!?" "Calder, its okay, I summoned him, he should be gone in about 5...4...3...2...1 and-" The Deadra let out a blood curling screech as it vanished. "Damn I hate when it does that...well lets get some breakfast." Serana and Calder just stood there in shock. "Well more sweet rolls for me," He walked off downstairs to eat all the sweet rolls, but Calder was running after him. "Those are my sweet rolls dammit!" Rao and Calder raced downstairs. Calder shoved him down the stairs, he tripped on the fifth step and fell face first into the ground while Calder ran past him and started to eat the sweet rolls. "Wanna play dirty than huh?" Rao brought out his fire spells and quietly walked up behind him, he stood up and burnt the sweet rolls. "NOOOOO!" When Serana came down, she saw a few cracks in the floor where Rao had crashed, his face slightly scratched, burning sweet rolls still on fire and Calder quietly weeping to himself. "I'm...I'm not even going to ask," "Just a normal day, we should head over to the Inn for some food, I think Calder needs some time to himself." They headed out the door to Candle Hearth Hall. It was a bitter-cold day, Serana didn't mind but Rao was freezing. "I really wish we didn't have to travel today." "Grow up, its only a little wind." As they walked in to the Inn, rao noticed someone from the corner of his eye. "Sanguine?" Rao walked over to the man. "Sam Guevenne... offering more drinking contests?" "Who the hell... Rao? Ahhh its good to see you again, haven't seen you since you got drunk and ruined the temple and sold the goat, married a HAGRAVEN! And you finally came to misty grove...ooh good times, and whose this? Your girlfriend? Shes a keeper man.." "Sam...shes a thousand year old vampire I found trapped in a monolith in a crypt," "Seriously? Damn you get yourself into a lot of crazy stuff , anyway... I have a very small quest I need you to do," "I can't right now I have to-," "You will? Great, I need you to deliver this box to Sheogorath, I owe him and this is what he wanted, I know you did some stuff for him so it shouldn't be hard." "Wait what, I can't do this right now, how am I supposed to even get to Sheogorath." "I'll just send you there" "Send me where? I have to bring-" Before he could even finish his sentence he was teleported to somewhere that seemed familiar. "Son of a bitch...here?"


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys, i'm really sorry i haven't updated this in a loooong time, but i had serious writers block, and with school and projects just didn't have the time. But still, i'm really sorry about the long wait, but here's the next chapter in our heroic adventure with Rao!**

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"You've been here?" Asked Serana

"Yep, really creeped me out, and before you ask, were in Pelagius's mind," He said

They set off into barren land, full of dead trees and an ominous fog. It wasn't long till they reached a wooden table with food fit for a king. And of course, behind the table sitting in his throne, was Sheogorath.

"OOOH my boy your back! I could just rip out your guts and strangle you with them!" Sheogorath exclaimed with a creppy grin plastered on his face.

"Yeah...,"Rao trailed off, "anyway, Sanguine wants me to give you this box,"

"A SURPISE, I love surpises, espically the ones full of blood and severed heads!'

Sheogorath opened the box and pulled out a note, written on the back of an Argonian concubine? Well apparently Sheogorath loves those, at least Rao won't be burning in a pit of boiling acid or turned into a troll.

"These are my favorite kinds! OOOH an invitation to a drinking contest!" Sheogorath yelled.

"Oh I don't think you-...you know what never mind, go have a great time," Rao replied

"And off with you, I have to finish drinking my cup of baby tears,"

Like that they were back in Candle Hearth Hall, except Sanguine was no where to be seen.

"Well that was...different," Serana said

"For you maybe, that was a pretty normal day for me, anyway, we should probably go back to the house and restock on supplies before we head out again."

Serana nodded and followed out the door to the chilly air of Windhelm.

"_I wonder how Rao gets involved in all this stuff anyway, he doesn't seem like the kind of guy who'd help Deadric princes, I'll have to ask him about it later," _Serana thought about this until she almost ran into the wall of the house, Rao held out an arm to stop her.

"Something on your mind?" He asked

"Huh, no, no, its nothing,"She replied, still deep in her thought.

When they walked in, Calder seemed to be back to normal, but he still seemed to hold a hint of sorrow in his eyes from the sweet rolls.

"Hey Calder...sorry about the sweet rolls...BUT I do have more!... I think," Rao said

At the mention of sweet rolls Calder seemed happier than ever. Rao went to the back of the house where there was a closet that seem a bit out of place to Serana. He opened it up and pushed the back of the closet to reveal a whole other room... and a dead assassin on the floor.

"Dammit...Calder, I thought I told you to put this body outside!"

"I did, but another one came over while you were gone, so I just dumped it in here like the others,"

"I see... well the sweet rolls are under the Arcane enchanter, and I'm going to have some explaining to do to Serana,"

With that he walked out with Serana while Calder grabbed the sweet rolls and started to devour them.

"So WHY IN THE DIVINES WAS THERE AN ASSASSIN ON THE FLOOR!"

"Ahh well about that, about 10 or so years ago, when I was still young and reckless and couldn't understand the world. I fell in with a bad crowd, one of my friends always had a lot of gold on him. I always wondered why but never bothered to ask. One day, he brought back a whole load of Septims, more than he's ever had before, so I finally decided to ask him. "Hey, Leon, where do you get all of this gold, I mean mean were not valued by anyone, who would want to hire us?"

"Uggh, its not that interesting of a story, just don't worry about it," Leon said

"Come on man, were like best friends, come on man,"

Fine.." He sighed, " You know the Dark Brotherhood? Well, I may do a few contracts for them here and there,"

"The Dark Brotherhood? Why would you ever work with them?"

"Well, as you've seen, the pay is good and their like a second family to me besides you guys, and the contracts are kinda fun."

I thought this over, the Dark Brotherhood, the most highly trained assassins in all of Tamriel, there assassin's, but according to Leon they pay well and its kind of fun. After moments of thinking i finally spoke.

"Could I join the brotherhood?"

Leon seemed a little shocked, but he seemed to be expecting the question.

"Hmm, well you are very stealthy, and decent with a blade... I'll have to talk to the other members but I'll think you can, I'll come back to you in a few days with the answer.

Leon walked off and Rao stood there going over what just happened. "_I might be an assassin for the brotherhood, I might be able to finally take care of myself," Rao thought to himself._ As Leon said, he didn't come back for a few days. It left me wondering whether I would become a member or not. I decided to practice with my steel dagger I always keep, to try to be better with it. I was decent at the time, I could take care of himself in a fight, but I wasn't anywhere near being great with it. Leon came back a few days later, after days of waiting and think, the brotherhood decided to let me become a part of the family.

I stayed in the brotherhood for 5 years, but as I got older, I realized that this isn't what I wanted. I didn't want to become a cold hearted merciless assassin, it wasn't right. So in the dead of night on the 14th of Sun's Dusk, I quietly left out of the sanctuary. The brotherhood didn't take to kindly to that, so ever since then they've sent assassin's after me.

Serana sat there for a moment of silence letting this all sink in.

"You were a member of the dark brotherhood!" She yelled,

"Well I was, I'm not anymore, I've changed!"

Rao tried reason with her more but she wouldn't take it, she stormed up stairs and slammed the door, leaving Rao sitting there with Calder. Neither of the men spoke, they just sat there in silence.


End file.
